Mass Effect 2: Adepts under powered?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No, but the Adept does have some gameplay issues that the other classes do not have. Also, the Adept requires more work and thought than some of the other classes to get the most out of it.

DISLAIMER: There is no right or wrong way to play Mass Effect 2. Liking or disliking certain classes is subjective. If you happen to like a certain class or dislike a certain class because of its abilities, that is fine.

Gameplay issues that affect the ME2 Adept:
1. Power duration penalties affect the Adept the most.

Duration penalties for enemies listed here. (Full thread here.)

Also, higher difficulties also reduce your base power duration. Hardcore reduces your base duration by 10%. Insanity reduces your base power duration by 20%. Positive power duration bonuses from passive talents and research upgrades are then added to this new base power duration.

The Adept's best disabling powers are Singularity and Pull, which get hit the hardest with these duration penalties.

Singularity also has two durations:
- An 'active' duration, which determines how long Singularity remains active.
- A 'hold' duration, which affects how long Singularity will hold -- or 'lift' an enemy. Lifted enemies take +100% damage and force from weapons and powers, and can be detonated with Warp.

The 'hold' duration is affected by all power duration bonuses and penalties.
The 'active' duration is affected by the current difficulty's duration penalty (for example, -20% duration on Insanity), how many enemies it is holding, and the duration penalty of the enemies affected, BUT it is not affected by any power duration bonuses. So for example, Heavy Duration has an 'active' duration of 35 seconds. On Insanity, this active duration is then actually 28 seconds. It's active duration can only be reduced by duration penalties.


2. Singularity is the weakest class unique power.
Singularity is a good power and a very useful power, and should be the first power you cast in a fight. But it does have some problems.

As I mention above, it is affected harshly by power duration penalties.

It also has a problem where, while it can hold most protected enemies in place (enemies with armor/shields/barriers) and damage protections over time, it will not hold all enemies in place. YMIR mechs -- one of the toughest enemies in the game -- are unaffected by Singularity.


3. Adepts require squadmates and all available powers to get the most out of the class.
Like the Engineer, the Adept requires at least one good squadmate to get the most out of the class. Generally speaking, the Adept and Engineer have opposite problems. The Adept can have 'trouble' dealing with protections, while the Engineer has 'trouble' dealing with health. (I'll touch on this subject later). This means that most Adept players want at least one defense-stripper in the squad to deal with enemy protections so they can use their powers. Personally, I find Adepts are best used with Miranda or Thane by their side as a Warp-bomber, or preferably with both.

Adepts are also biotic-combo specialists. Enemies lifted by biotics (Singularity, Pull, or lift duration of Slam) take +100% damage and force. So looking for opportunities to hit lifted enemies with Warp or Throw for devastating damage or environment kills is key. Pull + Throw is your quickest combo, and can kill enemy if you send them off the map.

Singularity + Warp is the first combo you can get and learn, and so becomes the main combo first-time Adept players will use, but it is also your longest cooldown combo. Singularity will hold most protected enemies in place and drain their protections over time, and lift unprotected enemies into the air. This is why I prefer to use Singularity on one protected enemy, then focus on taking down other enemies quickly.

Typically my plan is to Singularity one protected enemy (preferably the biggest threat) > shoot protection off another enemy > Pull the unprotected enemy > Miranda/Thane Warp bomb. Enemies in the blast radius take damage; protected enemies are staggered, and unprotected enemies are knocked down; this gives me more time to shoot. I can usually follow this up with another Pull on another unprotected enemy or two. If I have another Warp-bomber, this will create another detonation, which I can then follow up. Or I can choose to finish shooting the rest of the protections off the enemy affected by Singularity and then Warp-bombing it or throwing it.

One of the strengths of the Adept -- especially when used with squadmates -- is that you can take down groups of enemies in increasing intervals. Classes like the Soldier and Infiltrator are easier to play, but tend to rely mainly on their class-unique power. This means you take down enemies in fairly constant intervals: use class-unique power > kill enemy > wait for cooldown > repeat. With the Adept, you don't kill an enemy right away with Singularity, rather you are using Singularity as an opening move to begin taking down other enemies. So with the Adept, you are not killing in constant intervals, but in rapidly decreasing intervals.

* * *

I want to spend the rest of this post breaking down your main issue with the Adept, mainly the issue of 'enemy defenses'.




On higher difficulties, all enemies have shields, armor, or barrier. This is counted as a negative against the Adept since all of its powers except Warp require enemies to be on health before they 'work'.

But some things to consider:
1. Enemies have more health than defenses. Video by sinosleep:


Which leads to the next point...

2. Powers and weapons have damage bonuses to defenses. Relevant information here.
Weapons can also gain additional bonuses to defenses with unique upgrades:
- shotguns and SMGs can get an additional +50% damage to shields/barriers
- pistols and sniper rifles can get an additional +50% damage to armor
- assault rifles can get an additional +25% damage to shields/barriers/armor

This means that it actually takes more effort to take down health than defenses. Enemies don't just 'keel over' once they reach health. You have to make them keel over, which is where biotics can really take over.

Now, 'ragdolled' enemies take +100% damage. So enemies lifted by biotics or knocked back by a melee will take more damage. This is what makes biotics so powerful, especially with biotic combos.


3. All classes have to deal with defenses.
This seems obvious, but most people only complain when the Adept has to deal with them. I'm simplifying this (quite) a bit, but the Adept only has to deal with defenses, while the other classes have to deal with defenses and health.